Preparing and packing your child’s lunch in the morning is an act of love. It’s the nourishment you provide while they’re away from you at school or day care. Not only filling for their bellies, it’s also a reminder of the love you have for them. And with the cost of groceries these days, preparing a well-balanced lunch for kiddos can be a bit expensive.
So the thought that someone would disrespect that display of love is a true violation. When this very thing happened to an elementary school mom, she went off. And now she’s wondering if she did the right thing.
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The OP's daughter said a girl at school took her lunchbox and refused to give it back.
A young mother hopped on Reddit to express her frustrations about the way her daughter was being treated at school. She shared that her sister purchased a $50 bento box for her 6-year-old daughter to take to school. Recently, when she was unpacking her daughter’s backpack, she noticed the bento box was missing.
“When I asked her where it was she stated that a girl in her class named Audrey (fake name) had taken it and refused to give it back. I asked if she went to her teacher and she said yes but her teacher told her that it’s just a lunchbox and it shouldn’t matter,” the OP wrote.
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The next day, the OP showed up right before lunch to handle the situation herself.
Sadly, this is not the first time Audrey has tormented the OP’s daughter. “She and other girls always picked on my daughter and no matter how many times I went to the school about it nothing was done,” she wrote. “To say I was p—ed was the least.”
The next day, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She went up to her daughter’s school 30 minutes before lunch and asked to speak with her daughter’s teacher and the school’s principal. Audrey and the OP’s daughter were also present.
“Audrey brought the lunchbox to 'prove' that it was hers but I asked them to open the lunch box because my daughters name was inside and [lo and] behold when she opened it there was my daughters name as clear as day. When I requested she give it back to my daughter she begin crying.”
Instead of the adults in the room making Audrey return the stolen property, they asked the OP if it was ok if Audrey kept it for the day because her food was already in there. The OP was not pleased. “I said ‘Hell no’ and they had five minutes to find something else to put her food in or I would be dumping it out.”
The OP threw the girl's lunch in the garbage.
The staff still didn’t take her seriously. Instead of looking for another container, they argued with the OP. That’s when she lost it.
“I stood up and grabbed the bento box and in front of all them I threw the food out into the trash can. Grabbing my daughter’s hand I walked out the office with the bento box leaving them to comfort the crying girl.”
When she told her sister about what happened later, the sister said she had a right to be mad but shouldn’t have thrown the child’s food away, and she said that she could have bought her niece another bento box.
The OP said it’s about the principle of the matter. “Why should we have to buy something again for my daughter that she already had because some entitled kid wanted what’s hers?” she asked.
Later, she explained that her daughter will be leaving the school.
In the edit to the post, she offered more of an explanation and included several points.
“1. Audrey did NOT starve. The school offers free lunches.” 2. She can afford her own bento box. “She took my daughter bento because she’s a bully.” 3. She’s spoken to the principal and school board several times about the bullying and nothing has been done. 4. She didn’t care if she had to act childish. She would do anything for her kid. And lastly, her daughter will be leaving that school at the end of the semester.
Reddit agreed that she was NTA.
Although most instances of an adult discarding a child’s lunch would be pretty despicable, this case seemed to be the exception. And the Reddit community was sure to let the OP know that she was not in the wrong.
“No one seems to be holding Audrey accountable for her actions,” one user wrote. “You showed her that there could be consequences for bullying and stealing from your child. In that sense, you protected your daughter and provided Audrey with some needed discipline.”
Others even questioned Audrey’s parents.
“A parent sends their child to school, she comes home with two lunchboxes — the one you sent her with and one that clearly has someone’s name on it,” another user wrote.
The OP chimed in to say that Audrey’s mother is nonchalant about her daughter’s bullying and believes kids will be kids.
There was one person who said the OP was an a–hole “for not dumping it on the principal’s head.”
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